OKLAHOMA CITY -- It was another close-but-no-cigar loss here Sunday for the Trail Blazers. Oklahoma City once again was the team that hit the big shots, made the big blocks, and closed on a big run.

But I wonder if it wasn't the Blazers on Sunday who came out as the big winners.

I only wonder because we don't know yet if coach Nate McMillan is going to make what could be his most important move of the season: Starting Gerald Wallace at small forward.

McMillan says he needs to sleep on the decision. He said he was too emotional, too worked up after the Blazers fell 99-90 to the Thunder after being outscored 9-2 in the final 2:11.

But make no mistake: It was at the forefront of McMillan's thought process after watching Wallace play nearly all of his 45 minutes on Sunday at small forward, where he scored 40 points and put on one of the most dominant defensive performances the Blazers have seen recently from a wing player.

"We certainly have to look at that," McMillan said. "But I want to sleep on it."

The move would entail moving Nicolas Batum to the bench, and inserting Marcus Camby back as the starting center. In the process, LaMarcus Aldridge would no longer have to be the center, instead moving back to his natural power forward position.

The Blazers on Sunday played at length, and with great success, with this lineup, which also included Andre Miller and Wesley Matthews in the backcourt.

McMillan first did it on feel, inserting Camby in for Batum with 7:04 left in the first quarter and the Blazers trailing 11-2. It allowed Wallace to move to his natural position, and it also gave him the responsibility of guarding Kevin Durant, the NBA's leading scorer.

Immediately, the Blazers went on a 12-4 run and were back in the game.

Later, McMillan went back to the lineup out of necessity. Near the end of the first half, Batum bruised his right thigh, forcing him to the locker room with about three minutes left. The bruise restricted Batum's movement so much that he didn't start the second half.

With the lineup of Camby at center, Aldridge at power forward and Wallace at small forward, the Blazers started the second half on a 13-2 run, getting right back into a game they trailed 55-41 at halftime.

I'm not a huge fan of the NBA's plus/minus system, which keeps track of the team's success when each player is in the game, but Sunday's sheet was hard not to notice. When Batum was in the game, the Blazers were a minus-23. With Camby in, they were a plus-8.

Much of this unit's effectiveness was because of Wallace's defense. He wasn't always bracing himself against a bigger and stronger power forward. Instead, he was out on the perimeter, denying, harassing, and sending his braided hair flying all over the creation.

He not only helped distract Durant into a 5-for-18 shooting night, he drew a remarkable seven fouls while playing defense. That's right: seven. That's calls ranging from charges, to pushes in the back, to sliding screens ... all because he was doing what he does best, running around creating havoc. Not planting his feet in order to brace for impact against posting power forwards.

Sure, Wallace dropped 40 in to boot, but that had less to do with his position and more to do with it being just a special night. You know, one of those Andre Miller-in-Dallas type nights. After all, as Thunder coach Scotty Brooks quipped to me after he finished his postgame address and headed to his office, "Gerald Wallace is great, but 40 points great?"

After being around McMillan since he came to Portland in 2005, I get the sense he knows this is the right move. After all, it goes to the core of what coaching is all about: put your players in positions to succeed. This move would put three of his players infinitely more at ease.

Wallace says he is more "comfortable" at small forward because he has played it almost all of his 10-year NBA career. Camby says he is more comfortable starting. He has done it almost all of his 15-year career. And Aldridge is more comfortable at power forward, if anything because it prevents him from owning the injury-cursed tag of being a Trail Blazers center.

What causes McMillan pause is the tendency of teams to clog the paint when Camby and Miller play together. Neither are noted shooters, so defenders play off them and sag near the key, where they can more quickly double Aldridge in the post or discourage slashers like Brandon Roy from penetrating.

Indeed, on one of the game's decisive plays, Wallace drove into the key, where he was met by Thunder center Kendrick Perkins, who got a piece of his shot.

"Like tonight, things were congested," McMillan said. "We need Camby in the lineup because he rebounds and blocks some shots, but you saw Perkins double team Gerald, double team L.A."

So yeah, the Blazers lost another close one to the Thunder after Russell Westbrook once again hit some big shots, and Serge Ibaka and Perkins outmuscled the Blazers for some key rebounds.

But I have a feeling many Blazers fans will come to look at this loss as a victory, as the game the Blazers became better because the right starting five was revealed.